


Gabriel's resurrection and Sam's salvation (Stitches)

by DracoPendragon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Changing Tenses, Character Death, Conflict, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Heaven, Hell, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Internal Conflict, M/M, Season/Series 05, Season/Series 06, The Author Regrets Nothing, True Love's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-29
Updated: 2014-07-10
Packaged: 2018-02-06 17:15:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 9,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1865937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DracoPendragon/pseuds/DracoPendragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sacrifice brings about resurrection, salvation is granted to a deserving soul, and love is the strongest force the universe has ever seen.<br/>-----<br/>After Gabriel sacrifices himself for the Winchesters, Sam looks for a way to help him. He blames it on guilt.<br/>When Gabriel comes back, Sam's gone. Initially, he runs away. But his love of humanity wins him over, and he returns to help save the young Winchester.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Death

As soon as Dean had directed Kali into the impala, Sam turned back to the motel.

‘Sammy!’ his brother’s voice made him stop. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘I’m going to check on Gabriel,’ Sam said simply.

‘What, why? He gave us the chance to leave, let’s take it!’ Dean continued, waving his arm in a broad, sweeping gesture as if to further emphasise his point.

‘Exactly. I have to see if he’s okay.’

‘What about Lucifer?’

‘Dean, we can't just leave him. Not after what he did for us.’

‘He iced me like a hundred times!’

‘He let us go just then, helped us escape from Lucifer,’ Sam countered. He pulled the demon blade from his jacket pocket.

‘That’s all you got?’ Dean asked incredulously, looking at his brother as though he were insane.

‘Dean, I’m going,’ Sam insisted. He kept on walking forward. No one stopped him. ‘Take Kali somewhere safe, and then come back for me.’

 

The lobby was empty. Sam headed straight to the room he had last seen the two archangels in. Luckily, he was unhindered in his progression forwards; Lucifer appeared to have left, as well as the other gods. There were no new bodies anywhere, so he assumed they’d all been successful in their individual escapades.

There was no sound coming from the room ahead of him where the angels had been. Sam walked in slowly, still on guard. He managed to keep the blade in his hand even as his eyes fell on the lifeless body on the floor.

‘Gabriel?’ Sam called out warily.

No response.

‘Oh no please no,’ he exhaled as he spurred forward to the body. He was mindful of the charred wing markings on the wood-panelled floor as he sunk to the ground and pulled Gabriel's limp body into his arms.

He stopped to think for a second about why he cared; Dean was right about Gabriel. But there had to be more to the archangel than that. There just had to be.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said quietly, voice breaking as his eyes started to fill with tears. ‘I’m so sorry. We never meant for this to happen, we didn’t think Lucifer’d actually-’

Sam stopped. He couldn’t say it, for some reason. Didn’t want to accept that someone else had died because of him. Because Gabriel was, in the end, just the latest person in a long list of casualties brought about by the Winchesters. They had saved people, countless people, but there were so many who had died for them too, innocent people. So maybe Gabriel wasn’t the most innocent, he still didn’t deserve this, surely.

‘Please. Wake up. Gabriel, please come back. I know you're in there somewhere. We need you. _I_ need you. I mean yeah, you were always a goddamn jerk, but you didn’t deserve this. This shouldn’t have happened. Not to you. Gabe, I’m sorry.’

At this point Sam was almost over whelmed with emotion. He tried, as one last resort, to reawaken the fallen angel in his arms by placing his lips atop Gabriel's. He stayed like that for countless minutes, breathing into Gabriel's half-opened mouth as though his human and thus tainted breath could heal the wound inflicted by an angel blade, as though he could induce life in the archangel with just an exchange of air… as though his kiss was all it would take to stitch the broken shards of Gabriel's shattered grace back together.

Nothing happened.

Sam drew back, shifting Gabriel's hair so it wasn’t covering his face. Dean would be returning soon. What should he do? He could take Gabriel with him; it wouldn’t be difficult for him to pick up the angel’s body and carry it outside. Or he could leave Gabriel here, where he’d stay alone for who even knows how long.

Hs name was shouted from somewhere down the corridor.

He cleared his throat and moved away from the vessel gently before replying, ‘In here, Dean.’

His brother joined him in the room. Sam didn’t take his eyes off the Trickster’s face. It was strange, not seeing him smile. Sam thought he looked peaceful, and wondered where angels went when they died.

‘You okay?’ Dean asked after a moment of silence.

‘Yeah, I’m fine. I was too late.’

‘And you didn’t have a run-in with the Devil?’

‘No.’

‘Good. What’re you gonna do about him?’

Sam sighed. ‘We can take his body and leave it somewhere safe. Bobby’s, maybe?’

‘Yeah, okay. If that’s what you want.’

Sam wordlessly picked up the empty vessel on the floor into a fireman’s lift and his brother walked ahead as they left the motel. Gabriel's corpse was placed in the back seat of the car before they drove away from the scene in silence.


	2. Sacrifice

‘Sammy, it’s time.’ Dean stood at the door of Bobby’s panic room, looking at his brother. Sam had barely left Gabriel's side since the night they had got back from the motel, but nothing had changed; Gabriel was still dead, and the only help they had been given from him was the advice held within a Casa Erotica DVD, which he had made before he died.

‘Go without me,’ Sam said, not turning to face his elder brother. His hand was clasped tightly around Gabriel's, a gesture of comfort and belonging. So Gabriel knew he would not be alone when he woke up. _If_ he woke up.

‘Don’t be stupid, Sam. Come on, there’s nothing more you can do for him.’

Sam stood up and went to stand by Dean, towering over the other Winchester. His appearance betrayed the effects of his care of Gabriel; his eyes drooped and his chin was covered with a layer of stubble. Dean wondered how much sleep he had gotten.

‘You know what, Dean? If this had been anyone else, you’d have postponed the whole apocalypse and waited for them to get better if it was someone you cared about.’

‘Sammy,’ Dean growled lowly. A warning.

‘No, Dean. Don’t deny it, because you know it’s true. If it were Cas, or me, or Bobby, you would not be marching around like this.’

‘What’s all this fussin’ about?’ Bobby called as he walked towards them. He looked between the two of them, then to Gabriel's unconscious body, and understanding settled in. ‘Ah. Look, Sam. I hate to say it, but Dean’s right. We can't wait around for him to get better and hope the Devil does the same,’ Bobby said gently, hoping to coax Sam into leaving.

‘If this were anyone else, we’d have done all we can to save them,’ Sam pointed out again. ‘You’d have said “screw the apocalypse, let’s help our friend out”. What’s different?’

‘Gabriel's a powerful weapon, but we can't just wait for him to recharge, Sam. Lucifer certainly won't do that,’ Dean replied.

‘Jesus Dean, set your loyalties straight here!’

‘My loyalty is with my family, Sam. He is not a part of that.’

‘No, but he’s Cas’ family. And Cas is fighting this war with us, isn’t he? And Cas is basically our family.’

‘Sam, there’s a world of difference between Cas and Gabriel-’

‘Yeah, for one, you're not fucking Gabriel!’ Sam shouted.

Dean looked as though he’d been slapped in the face. ‘I’m not sleeping with Cas,’ he insisted.

‘Whatever Dean. You're both clearly in love. Just sort yourselves out already, it’s sickening to watch.’

‘Boys, quit it!’ Bobby yelled, stepping between the two of them. ‘Now, we’re supposed to be fighting Lucifer damn soon, and we can't do that if the two of you are bickerin’ constantly. So shut the hell up, say sorry and let’s go.’

Dean looked down, ashamed. ‘Sorry, Sam. I get he means a lot to you, but we can't afford to waste precious time waiting for something that might not happen.’

‘I get that. I just don’t want him to be dead.’ Sam turned to look at Gabriel for a long moment before nodding defeatedly. ‘Alright. Let’s go.

‘And Dean. I’m sorry for saying you and Cas were together, I just assumed from the way you two act that-’

‘Yeah well we’re not, so stop assuming,’ Dean said quickly.

‘What about Gabe?’ Sam asked, visibly concerned.

‘We’ll get him back, don’t worry,’ Bobby consoled him as they locked the door and walked away. ‘Let’s just stop this here apocalypse first, okay?’

‘Yeah, okay.’

* * *

Sam says yes to Lucifer, wondering what Gabriel would think of the whole situation. Lucifer notices and he tells Sam, ‘Gabriel would see you and think you were nothing, little Winchester. Now, time to go to sleep for a little while.’

The next time Sam wakes up, he’s burning. Lucifer laughs at him and Sam screams. Michael and Adam are there somewhere too, but no one rescues him. He remembers all the people he killed, the damage he did to his friends, his _family_. It was Lucifer’s fault, but he still carries the guilt with him. Lucifer knows, and fully takes advantage of it. He whispers constantly in Sam's ear about how it was his fault, and his brother won't save him because he doesn’t deserve to be saved. Sam doesn’t fight, because there’s nothing worth fighting for anymore.

He prays. To Gabriel. Every wretched moment spent in Lucifer’s company, Sam prays for salvation. But nothing ever happens. No one ever comes to save him.

Sam loses hope after the 200th year he spends as Lucifer’s toy. He no longer prays, because he knows he won't be saved. He just hopes that Gabriel is okay. He hopes he did the right thing. He hopes that everyone will be happy without him.


	3. Reawakening

There is darkness everywhere, surrounding him and inside him too. He can feel it from where it entered him the moment Lucifer struck him with the angel blade. He can feel the ebbing of his grace too, emanating from a thousand different places in his body, shards of pulsating essence contained within the space he occupies. He tries to pull them together, through sheer willpower, and finds that it is not a futile effort. The golden light is drawn to where he knows his core is, attracted like magnets towards him. Slowly, and with much effort and pain, he extends out his wings. Ethereal light surrounds him as the darkness twitches and jumps backwards, burned by the intensity of the light. The darkness leaves him and is replaced by the familiar buzz of his angelical grace.

He’s delighted to discover he still exists, even though at current he is only a multi-dimensional series of wavelengths. He wonders what happened to his vessel. Then he looks down, and sees it on a cot in what looks to be a dungeon. He hopes no one decided to try anything kinky while he was out of it. He also wonders how he manages to think or respond to anything, because he is only a set of wavelengths. Promptly deciding to forget about it, due to the unnatural nature of angels and their ability to defy physics in more ways than one, he thinks up a plan of how to get to his vessel. There appears to be a barrier blocking him from it, and he can only look down upon it as though he were a passer-by looking through a shop window.

He doesn’t know what to do next, so he recalls his last memories. Lucifer stabbing him in the heart, the infinite pain that seemed to follow, the unbearable torture of his wings burning, feathers turning to ash as his grace became eviscerated. He looks at his wings now; the skeletal remains from which dangle a few limp feathers. He puts some of his grace into healing them, but it does not do much good.

There’s something there, at the very edge of his consciousness he hasn’t yet paid any attention to. He picks at it now, wondering what it is. Another memory, it seems. Suddenly he’s back at the motel, having been left there by his brother after his stabbing. Sam Winchester is cradling him, teardrops falling on the angel’s face as he begs Gabriel to come back. The faded imprint of lips on his is presented to him, and Gabriel realises Sam Winchester kissed him. He wonders what happened to the boy. If he was okay. He follows this trail of unconscious memory in the hope that it would maybe lead him to clues about how he survived.

Sam brings him here, to this dungeon he is currently stuck hovering above. He sits beside Gabriel's body every day, praying for him to come back, tucking the errant hair from his face so it doesn’t hide his expression of calm. He watched Sam reluctantly leave his side to go and fight Lucifer. Gabriel remembers it all, but it’s like a disconnected memory, as though he were living it from someone else’s perspective. There’s nothing in that bank of memories to help him figure out how he wasn’t killed by his own archangel blade. And so he waits.

Time passes and twists around him, and he grows slightly stronger each coming day. He doesn’t call out for help, he can't. He is not yet strong enough. He tries to fly, to push past the invisible restraints confining him, but it doesn’t seem to work. His wings work though, which has to be a good sign.

More time passes. One day, quite out of the blue, there’s a shift in the realm of reality where he woke, and he finds himself falling down to the floor of the dungeon he appears to be in. Dimensions lessen, and wavelengths increase as his wings become corporeal and he turns into visible light of an unbearable intensity. He is no longer simply a collection of wavelengths, but he is not yet in a vessel. A truth which must be changed, and soon. He reaches out with his fragmented grace, feeling the life forms around him as they live and breathe and fluctuate with activity.

Then the door to the dungeon opens.


	4. Reformation

‘Gabriel?’

Castiel’s familiar voice filled Gabriel with relief, because finally he’d found someone who can help him.

‘Cassie!’ he called out excitedly, grace flickering around him as he tried to contain it so it wouldn’t destroy its current accommodation.

‘Gabriel, you're alive,’ Castiel pointed out.

‘Well duuuh, baby bro,’ Gabriel said, rolling his eyes. ‘Now do a brother a favour and heal that nasty angel blade wound so I can reclaim my vessel, would you?’

Castiel did as Gabriel asked, throwing glances at the other angel every few seconds.

‘I’m actually real, Cas. I promise,’ Gabriel offered when he caught him at it.

‘But how?’ asked Castiel.

Gabriel shrugged in response. ‘I dunno. I’m not gonna question it; I’m glad to be not dead.’

‘I’m glad you're not dead too, but you have to admit, the circumstances are questionable.’

‘Yeah, I get it.’

‘Cas?’ called out a voice from beyond the room in which the two angels were.

‘Dean, do not come in yet,’ replied Cas, shutting the door with a sweep of one hand while gesturing at the body on the bed with the other.

Gabriel understood, and directed his grace so it entered his former vessel, which had been healed. He hadn’t been able to do it himself, due to the instability of his powers upon returning; he didn’t want to try anything in case it exhausted him and ended up halting his renewed existence.

His grace flowed through his vessel, and he could feel as the body he inhabited became alive; muscles began to work again, blood flowed through veins and arteries and capillaries, his eyes opened, blinked and focused on his surroundings. His grace overpowered the feeling of numbness that had come from spending weeks in an immobile state, and he sat up on the cot, slowly and cautiously extending out his arms and legs as he did so.

Castiel waited until Gabriel had nodded at him to let Dean in. The elder Winchester stormed in, blade in hand. His whole body was on guard, ready for a fight, and he looked around cautiously.

His eyes immediately turned to Cas as soon as he noticed the other man, and Gabriel watched the two of them engage in eye sex for a while as the short following conversation ensued.

‘Cas. Everything alright? You left here in kind of a hurry.’ Dean.

‘I’m fine, Dean,’ Castiel insisted.

Dean lowered the blade and nodded. ‘Good. Can't lose you as well as-’ he stopped short as he turned to look at Gabriel.

‘What the hell?’

Gabriel grinned at him widely. ‘I’m just as surprised as you are, bucko,’ he admitted as he gestured to his vessel. ‘Here I am, back from the dead.’

Dean shoved the blade away so it was out of his hands. ‘You were dead.’

‘Correct.’

‘And now you're alive again.’

‘Duuh.’

‘How?’ the Winchester asked.

‘As I mentioned to Castiel, I do not know. One minute I’m surrounded by darkness, the next it’s a nice big welcome back hug from my grace and I’m here in my old vessel.’

‘Right. Okay. Mind if we do some tests, just to check it’s really you?’

‘I’m a little offended you don’t trust me, but… sure thing. Go ahead,’ Gabriel complies, figuring he should at least show good manners for once.

‘Great,’ Dean replied in monotone, and he walked out of the room, leaving the two angels to follow behind him.

‘Sheesh, what’s up with him?’ Gabriel said in a side whisper to Castiel on their way up to what Gabriel supposed was the main lodgings.

The side glance he was given by his other angelic companion was enough to make him sink into a temporary sombre silence until they reached ground level.


	5. Realisation

He looked around the room at the numerous shelves of books, which he could tell were almost all about folklore. A grizzled old man was sat at the desk, his face plastered to the book on the desk in front of him. Light snoring came from beneath the baseball hat atop his head, which partially obscured his face.

‘Bobby!’ Dean called out. ‘Hey Bobby. Wake up.’

The old man lifted his head suddenly as Dean shook him, beady eyes wide and alert as he scanned the room for danger. ‘What the hell-’ he began to ask, but stopped as his eyes fixed on Gabriel.

‘Hey, Bobby,’ Gabriel grinned.

‘The archangel Gabriel?’ Bobby asked.

‘The very same.’

‘But… how?’ the wizened hunter asked, turning his head between Dean and Cas as though they’d answer him.

‘We don’t know, and neither does he,’ Dean said. ‘We want to run some tests on him; the usual, you know.’

‘Sure,’ Bobby nodded.

‘Great,’ replied Dean, and he grabbed a bottle of clear liquid which he threw at Gabriel.

‘Hey, these are my good clothes!’ the archangel cried out as he was hit with the holy water.

‘Well, you’re not a demon,’ Dean explained. He put the bottle down and picked up a small blade. ‘Hold out your arm.’

Gabriel kept a straight face as he did what he was told. Dean made a nick in his skin, just enough to draw blood. He seemed satisfied, and settled the knife back down.

‘Not a werewolf or shifter either,’ continued the Winchester. ‘You got past the salt lines I had put outside the panic room, but you don’t seem like a ghost anyway other than the fact that you died and came back to life.’ He turned around and searched for something before pivoting on his heel again to face Gabriel. ‘Don’t mind if I inject you with some dead man’s blood, do you?’ he smiled. ‘Just want to be thorough.’

‘Not at all,’ Gabriel said as he held out his arm again. The cut from before had already healed, barely a scratch visible on his skin. He watched as Dean stabbed him with the tip of the syringe, slowly emptying it of its dark red contents. He felt as the blood entered his system, and was immediately obliterated by his grace. The small puncture wound healed in seconds.

‘Not a vampire either,’ Gabriel offered. ‘I can’t tell you guys how I managed to come back alive, but I can bet it has something to do with Sam Winchester and his prayers.’ He didn’t mention the kiss he remembered, because that was something he wanted to bring up with Sam, and only Sam.

‘Speaking of which, where is that giant?’ he asked, looking around the room.

Dean, Castiel and Bobby all shifted uncomfortable in their places and looked around pointedly, not giving him an answer.

‘What? What happened?’ Gabriel asked, smiling. Surely they were just playing a poorly executed joke on him and Sam was going to jump out from behind one of the huge piles of books any second. ‘Where is he?’

‘He’s…’ began Dean, looking at the floor. ‘He’s gone.’

‘Gone? Gone where?’

‘During your brothers’ big grudge match. Sam said yes to Lucifer, so we could trap him in the Cage like you said. There were complications, and…’ Dean stopped. ‘Look, it doesn’t matter what happened. All that matters is Sam is stuck in the Cage with both Lucifer _and_ Michael and we can’t find a way to save him.’

‘Both of my brothers are stuck in there?’ Gabriel asked, voice quiet. ‘But who was Michael’s vessel if you’re still here?’

‘Our half-brother, Adam.’

‘Oh, that kid.’

‘Yeah.’ Dean sighed and rubbed at the back of his head. ‘We’d have waited for you to recharge, but it wasn’t a definite possibility, so we did what we had to.’

‘I understand,’ Gabriel said heavily. He turned to Castiel. ‘It was good to see you, Cas. And you, Dean. Mr Singer.’ He made his acknowledgements to each of them before he vanished from his spot in a flutter of half-mended wings.


	6. Choice

Gabriel flew somewhere where he knew he wouldn’t be found. He made sure Castiel wouldn’t find him, and that nothing else could track him.

He tries the human life: he watches stupid reality shows like Jersey Shore and wonders what happened to humanity; he listens to Metallica and Iron Maiden, then to Bach and Mozart; he tries different foods, going all over the world. Sometimes he cheats and uses a bit of angel mojo, but there’s no one around to judge him. And besides, airplane journeys are long and arduous, and he’d rather not suffer through that. He watches sports he would never otherwise get into, and spends countless hours inhabiting movie theatres, watching a variety of different films. His favourites are the classic black and white ones, like Frankenstein from the 1930s. He eats his weight ten times over in candy, and even meets the Queen of England at one point.

He was running away from his problems, he knew he was, but that was how he dealt with his things. Once a runner, always a runner. He’d stuck up to Lucifer once, and had gotten himself stabbed for his efforts. So you could hardly blame him. That was his reasoning anyway.

Gabriel didn’t stop, refused to let himself stop to think about the Winchesters. Especially not Sam. No he wouldn’t think of Sam stuck in the Cage with Lucifer, who was probably torturing his vessel senseless. Goddamn the Winchesters, he thought bitterly.

He had always been a sucker for humanity though. Maybe that was why he was so easily swayed when it came to people.

* * *

Because he was an archangel, and his existence spanned the whole of Time itself, he had learned almost all the languages that ever existed. So whenever travelling to distant lands, communication was never an issue. Except that one time he went to visit one of the native Amazonian tribes. He still wasn’t quite sure if he had been given the goat as a peace offering or an engagement gift for him and one of the elder ladies of the tribe.

He spent his last full week on Earth in Haiti, helping local charities build a new primary school. Some of his angel powers went into that too, but it was mostly inconspicuous. Healing the ill and saying it was advanced medicinal technology, and making large sums of money appear in the charities’ bank accounts as donations from ‘generous benefactors’. He spent time with the children, got to know each one personally. He had always been good with kids, more inclined to spending time with them than with adults. He felt the need to protect them, to preserve their childlike innocence from the ghastly truth of the world around them.

One day, while he was sat beneath a large tree near the construction site for the new school, he was approached by a small girl he knew from the local village he was helping in.

‘Hey, Akanni,’ he smiled as he noticed her, talking to her in her native language.

‘Hello, Gabriel,’ she replied, smiling down at him innocently.

‘What brings you here?’

‘Mama sent me out to play, and I want to plait your hair,’ Akanni giggled.

Gabriel's smile turned into a grin as he gestured for her to sit on the shaded ground beside him.

She did so, and he turned around so that she could access his golden hair. He used his powers to make his hair grow longer, passing just below his shoulders so that the girl had enough to plait.

He let her small hands separate his hair into strands, which she criss-crossed over each other so that they formed a long plait. He deliberately didn’t let his mind stray to thoughts of Sam Winchester’s long hair. Thinking about the Winchester made his heart ache in a way he didn’t quite understand, and he tensed up unwillingly.

Akinni noticed and gently asked, ‘What’s wrong?’

Gabriel sighed deeply. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to have a conversation about feelings with a nine year old kid, but had learnt from experience that sometimes, children were better communicators than adults.

‘There’s a person I know who’s in a lot of trouble,’ he began to explain as she continued styling his hair. ‘And I could help him, I know I could. But instead of doing that, I’m running away. I’m being a coward.’

‘Even the bravest of men run away sometimes,’ she commented absentmindedly.

‘Wise words for a nine year old,’ he says to her.

‘My papa has always said that.’ The smile in her voice from his praise was evident. ‘Does this person deserve saving?’

‘Yeah, he really does,’ Gabriel admitted. Sam Winchester had been cursed since before he was born, bound to lead an unhappy life. Of course he deserved saving.

‘Then you must do so,’ Akinni stated simply. ‘You must help those in need, especially if they are your friends.’

Gabriel thought about it. He could stay where he was, drowning slowly in the guilt of leaving Sam, when Sam had not left him until it was unavoidable. Or he could risk everything he had, his grace, his freedom, and he could go and save the Winchester.

‘I suppose I’d better go be Prince Charming then,’ he sighed.

Akinni finished her hair styling and Gabriel turned to face her. ‘I guess this is goodbye, kid,’ Gabriel frowned.

‘We’ll meet again one day,’ she assured him, beaming up at him with a gappy smile.

‘Yeah, we will,’ he smiled back. ‘Thanks for the help, bucko.’ He winked at her before disappearing on the spot and flying away.


	7. Recruitment

Gabriel appeared back at the Singer house he had woken up in after his death. He was greeted by a shocked silence, and the gaping looks of confusion gracing the faces of Dean, Bobby and Castiel.

‘What?’ he asked. ‘Have I got something in my teeth?’

‘Where the hell did you go?’ Dean asked him. ‘Cas couldn’t find you, it was like you’d just disappeared off the face of the earth for the past couple weeks.’

‘Not quite, young Winchester,’ Gabriel admitted. ‘You see, while you were stuck moping about poor Sammy’s demise, I was helping others. In Haiti. And I also found a way to rescue Sam.’

‘How?’ Dean and Cas asked simultaneously, the latter tilting his head in confusion.

Upon realising they had both spoken at the same time, they turned to look each other, stuck in deep eye contact for a moment. Gabriel and Bobby watched their silent exchange, both looking and feeling confused.

Gabriel coughed, and Castiel turned to look at him while Dean startled and moved his eyes to the floor, cheeks reddening.

‘I need your help, Cassie,’ Gabriel said, looking his younger brother straight in the eye. ‘You’ve gotta keep the door to the Cage open for long enough so that I can sweep in and get Sam's soul. Can you do that?’

‘I can try,’ Castiel offered.

‘Do or do not; there is no try,’ Gabriel replied.

Castiel looked confused and Gabriel rolled his eyes. ‘Never mind. Look, we have to go now. The longer we wait, the longer Sam suffers under Lucifer’s hand.’

‘So what are we waiting for?’ Dean asked.

‘Dean, I think it’s best you stay here,’ Gabriel warned. ‘You don’t know what you’re brother’s gonna be like when he gets out-’

‘I’m coming with you, Gabriel. I don’t give a damn about what you say, I want to see Sammy.’

Gabriel rolled his eyes again, internally cursing the Winchesters. He turned to Bobby. ‘You wanna come too?’

‘Might as well, I ain’t gonna be much use here,’ replied the eldest hunter as he rose from his seat.

Together they walked out to Dean’s impala. Bobby rode shotgun, because Dean had a strict ‘no winged beings in the front’ policy, so Cas and Gabe both climbed into the backseat.

Dean turned the key in the ignition, and a loud, dissonant warbling filled the air.

‘Gabriel, stop screwing around with my baby!’ Dean yelled.

Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes once more before clicking his fingers. The opera music was replaced with Led Zeppelin, playing on some classic rock radio station Dean had the stereo set to.

‘Thank you,’ Dean sighed as he began to drive the car. ‘Where are we headed?’

‘Back to wherever Luci and Mike had their big grudge match,’ Gabriel said. ‘There’ll be some residual magic left over from those rings, and my archangel magic can use it to open the Cage again. Then all Cas has to do is hold it open while I sneak in and get Sam without letting Lucifer or Michael know I’m there.’

‘We’ve been doing some research ourselves on Stull Cemetery,’ Dean lets on. ‘Lore says there’s a “stairway to hell” there, somewhere near the church ruins. The lid’s covered with grass, but apparently it’s there. Do you reckon it’s sufficiently angel-proofed to stop Lucifer and Michael getting out if you use it to get in?’

‘Could work. I could go through Hell and find a back way to the Cage, get Sam out again.’

‘So you can take Cas with you?’ Dean asked nonchalantly. Gabriel knew why, of course.

‘Why, don’t trust me?’ Gabriel pouted. ‘Look, you gotta understand I’m about to break into the most heavily protected part of Hell and maybe have to face my two brothers, one of them who _murdered_ me before. I’m gonna need back up here so that we can shut it before they both escape and Sunday dinner happens all over again. Because then, there’ll be no escaping it for anyone. You’ve got to trust me.’

‘Fine,’ Dean relented after a moment of silent contemplation.

Gabriel and Castiel spent the rest of the car journey discussing the best plan of entry to the Cage. Eventually, they pulled up at the cemetery and Gabriel climbed out of the back. He walked purposefully to the church remains that had been mysteriously burnt down.

The rest of the group joined him a few seconds later, and they all searched for the doorway Dean had spoken of.


	8. Descent

‘Found it!’ Gabriel called out. He used his magic to clear the grass surrounding the cover, and pulled the hatch open. A gust of wind picked up from the depths of the darkness that he had uncovered, and he turned to look at the others. Dean and Bobby appeared to be moving forwards slightly, pulled towards the entrance by some unseen force.

‘Cas, keep an eye on those two will you?’ he asked as he moved closer.

Castiel grabbed their hands and held them steady. He looked at Gabriel. ‘Are you sure you’re fully healed?’

‘Maybe,’ replied the archangel, tilting his head from side to side in consideration. ‘It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it.’

And with that, he began his descent down the stone stairs, leaving behind his three companions.

* * *

The darkness pulls him in, deeper down as he descends the stairs. The walls are damp and cold, and he shivers. Which makes no sense at all, because angels don’t get cold. He keeps walking though, as the air around him grows colder and the hairs on his arms and at the back of his neck rise to attention. The smell of decomposition and an overwhelming sense of pain and suffering echoes out around him, but he doesn’t stop moving; time is of the essence, and he cannot let himself be spotted.

He sneaks his way forward, ignoring the heat slowly singing the tips of his wings as he makes his way to the hidden entrance to the cage. When he gets there, he walks through the barrier, immense and impenetrable, only letting past those very few who had authority.

There’s a conflicted mix of temperatures around him. He’s warm because of the Hellfire emanating through the barrier, cold because of his brother’s icy burn. A sure sign that Lucifer was close by. And with Lucifer would most likely be Sam. Perhaps Michael and his Winchester vessel too.

He follows the cold feeling, singed wing tips freezing over as he walks further into the cage; further into a possible trap. Nothing approaches him as he walks. The physics of angels and their nature goes beyond any creature’s understanding of anything to do with those subjects, but Gabriel understood that weapons would prove useless in any fight that may occur between him and his brothers in this place. Thus, he walks with only magic at his side, going deeper into the space around him in his search for Sam.

‘Sammo?’ he calls out quietly, trying not to draw too much attention to himself.

There was no response.

Gabriel looks around, extending out his grace so he can see his surroundings better. There’s nothing but craggy rock floor near him, and he pulls his grace back a little. There’s a flare of light on the horizon, and he recognises his brother’s grace. He walks forwards, going towards it, hoping fervently that Sam will be there. He wonders what state the boy will be in, thinks that if he would have stayed and not ran away, maybe he could have protected Sam from the worst of Lucifer’s abuse.

The light becomes more intense as he reaches it, and it illuminates the scene before him. Lucifer in his full form, standing above Sam Winchester, bloodied and bruised. He seems to notice Gabriel, and turns around.

‘I thought I killed you,’ he states, grace flaming, head cocked to the side slightly.

‘I did too,’ Gabriel admits, shrugging. ‘But here I am.’

‘Why are you here? Come to join the fight?’

‘Actually, I came to save Sam,’ replies the younger brother, looking at the Winchester. Sam stares at him in disbelief. ‘Hey, moose.’

‘Gabriel,’ Sam breathes out the name as though he can barely believe it’s coming from his mouth. ‘You can't be here, you-’

‘I’m here for you, Sam. We’ll get you out of here,’ promises the archangel.

‘And what if I don’t let you?’ Lucifer steps in. ‘Where’ll you go when you die this time, Gabriel?’

‘I’m not going to die, Lucifer,’ Gabriel replies. ‘Not this time.’


	9. Salvation

‘Gabriel?’

His name being called out from behind him makes the archangel take a step back and to the side. He doesn’t want to take his eyes off Lucifer, and he doubts Michael would kill him.

‘Hey, Mikey,’ he smiles as he inches closer to Sam.

‘What are you doing here?’

‘I came to save a certain Winchester.’ He kneels beside Sam and turns to look at his eldest brother, standing in full form beside a young looking boy with blond hair. ‘Who’s that?’

‘I’m Adam,’ the boy pipes up. ‘I was Michael’s vessel when we got stuck here.’

‘Oh yeah, Dean mentioned you,’ Gabriel nods, frowning. ‘I wish I could save you too, kid. Unfortunately, I only planned for one.’

‘It’s fine,’ Adam nods in understanding. ‘Michael is protecting me.’

Gabriel looks between the two of them in playful curiosity. ‘Good to know.’ He turns back to Lucifer. ‘I’m going to take Sam out of here, and you’re going to let me.’

‘Is that so?’ Lucifer grins, walking towards Sam and Gabriel fluidly.

‘Lucifer, if you even try and stop Gabriel from leaving here, you shall have to fight the both of us,’ Michael warned, stepping forward to block his youngest brother from the Devil’s attack.

‘Michael, please. You’re letting him escape when he should be dead already?’ Lucifer asks, head tilting to the side again. ‘And what about Sam? You know what he’s been through, you must have heard the screams even whilst you and your boy vessel were at the other end of the cage.’

Gabriel ignores his brothers talking, turning instead to Sam. ‘What did he do to you?’

‘Nothing Gabe, I’m fine-’ Sam begins to insist but Gabriel cuts him off.

‘Tell me so I can get rid of it. Please. Trust me.’

‘Later,’ Sam says insistently. ‘We need to go now, before Lucifer hurts you like he did to me.’

‘Can you walk?’ Gabriel supports Sam as he gets up. The taller of the two wavers slightly, unsteady on his feet, and Gabriel makes sure his arms are linked around Sam's waist to help him.

‘You take him now, Gabriel, and you’ll kill him,’ Lucifer says casually, glancing over at his younger brother.

‘That’s the thing you don’t understand about Winchesters,’ Gabriel replies. ‘Even when they’re dead, they don’t stay like that for long. We’re going.’ He looks over at Michael. ‘I wish I could help you.’

‘I don’t need your help,’ Michael says. ‘Go.’

‘Look after him, will you?’ Gabriel directs at Adam. The boy looks flustered, but nods in response anyway.

‘I’m sorry, Adam,’ Sam says.

Adam looks at him for a long moment before nodding. ‘Me too. Now go.’

Lucifer watches the exchange with a fond smile. ‘How sweet.’ He goes to lash out at Gabriel, but Michael intercepts him, and then the two eldest archangels are skittering lights, graceful and deadly in their movements. Gabriel would stop to watch, but he does not want to see his brothers tear themselves to pieces. And he does not have the time to. He can feel Sam's heartbeat, faltering and irregular within the broken body containing it, and knows he must resurface soon.

‘Come on, this way,’ he says as he guides the Winchester back to where he knows the border of the Cage is. He does not look back.

They make their way back to the boundary, and Gabriel unlocks the way through, pushing Sam ahead of him. He curls small tendrils of his heavenly grace around the tall, lanky frame, hoping to keep it intact and safe until he could at least find somewhere to take better care of him. Together, Gabriel leading and Sam trusting him, they make it to the back entrance to Hell where Gabriel had entered from. He pushes Sam up the stairs ahead of him, breathing in the smell of fresh, sulphur-free air coming from above. Castiel had successfully managed to keep the gate open, and Gabriel feels giddy with emotion because it worked, their plan worked.

Sam and Gabriel fall out onto the grass and Gabriel takes in a deep, unnecessary breath before sighing in relief.


	10. Purification

A trio of faces looked down at the pair on the ground.

‘Got him,’ Gabriel cried out triumphantly. ‘Might wanna close the doorway now, Cassie.’

‘I’ve done it already,’ Castiel replied.

Gabriel turned to look at the person beside him. Sam looked small and broken. And then Gabriel realised he wasn’t moving. He pushed himself up to his feet and picked up the Winchester in his arms. ‘Come on, we have to go.’

‘What, why?’ Dean asked, worry evident in his voice.

‘I pulled your brother out of Hell, but I was busy trying not to get obliterated by Lucifer to be able to heal him. God bless Michael for helping me out. You know, he’s not as bad as you think,’ Gabriel explained as he began walking, easily carrying Sam. ‘I’m gonna snap us to your place, Mr Singer, take him to that dungeon or whatever you had me in.’

‘Panic room,’ Bobby corrected. ‘And sure, go ahead. We’ll meet you there.’

Gabriel flapped his great, invisible wings and then he was stood in the Singer household’s living room holding Sam. He walked purposefully to the panic room, gently lowering Sam into the cot.

‘Let’s see if we can't fix you up some, shall we?’ he murmured.

* * *

Sam's cold.

He’s never been this cold in his life, not ever. He doesn’t know where he is or who is talking to him, he doesn’t know anything. Under Lucifer’s constant torture he’s reverted back to his innocent mentality of pure childish thought. The ability to function properly has escaped him, Lucifer’s manipulation and the warping of his mind and conscience all but engulfing him whole. There’s pain, unbearable pain, flooding every inch of his body, and he can feel himself convulsing.

He can't breathe, can't think, can't remember anything.

And then, everything goes blissfully dark, and he falls off the edge into nothingness.

* * *

‘Damn it, Sam,’ Gabriel said in frustration as he drew back his grace. He’d been trying for the last half hour to fix the damage that had been left behind by Lucifer, mending the soul and stitching up the wounds. He had reached the point where, despite all that had happened, he should have been strong enough to heal a person despite the severity of their wounds. The physical damage had been easy enough to repair, but the psychological trauma that the Winchester had been through would be more difficult to deal with.

He shook himself mentally and focused on the essence of his supernatural being, directing it towards the shards of darkness embedded within the poor boy’s soul. The purity of his grace worked to break apart the black hole in Sam's mind, created over a long time by extensive trauma due to prolonged torture. It wasn’t working fast enough though. Darkness would soon take over and then Sam would be as good as dead, incapacitated by the horrors he had experienced. Tapping at Sam's brain brought him no response, no activity. He was still alive, but he was barely living.

Gabriel had asked to be left alone, and the privacy had been granted to him. He wondered desperately about how he was supposed to save a human life that was so cursed and fragile and weak. And then it hit him.

‘Sam,’ he whispered cautiously into Sam's ear. ‘Sam, I know you’re in there. Don’t play games with me.’ He sighed. ‘We need you back. I need you like you need me. Remember?’

He was clueless as to what else he was supposed to do, so he resolutely placed his lips firmly on Sam's own, breathing out more of his grace, so that there was more resistance in Sam, and the virus and trauma began to clear. The haze and inactivity in Sam's brain halted, and Gabriel pushed more insistently, obliterating most of the darkness.

Beneath him, Sam's lips began to respond, slowly at first, but then kissing him more desperately, as though it was the only thing that would save him from drowning.

Gabriel let the kiss continue indefinitely, until there was definitely no more darkness left in Sam and the human was capable of moving, albeit slowly.

‘Hey there,’ he smiled. ‘I thought you were gone for a second.’

‘Me too,’ Sam replied. ‘I thought you were gone too.’

‘The world seems to have other plans for us, kiddo.’

‘Yeah.’ Sam looked around. ‘Say, where’s Dean?’

‘I asked to be left alone. Don’t think he’d appreciate seeing us make out, you know.’

Sam rolled his eyes. ‘Can I see him?’

‘Sure thing. I’ll ask Cas to bring him down here,’ Gabriel smiled.

‘Thanks.’

‘No problem.’

‘You listened to me.’

‘Huh?’ Gabriel asked, confused.

‘You came back. A little late, but you came back.’

‘I know.’

‘Thank you for saving me.’

‘You saved me first.’

Sam was about to reply, but at that moment, Dean, Cas and Bobby all walked into the panic room, looking at Sam. Sam gave Gabriel a look to say this wasn’t over, but accepted the other people gathering around him as Gabriel drew back to the side of the room.


	11. Catharsis

Gabriel watched as the Winchesters exchanged greetings, hugs and the like. Castiel did not join in, however; he was staring at Sam with his head tilted in curiosity. He walked up to Gabriel and stood by him, out of earshot.

‘What did you do to him?’ Cas asked in his gruff voice.

‘I healed him with my grace,’ Gabriel said simply. ‘True love’s kiss can break any spell, right?’

‘I do not understand that reference.’

Gabriel rolled his eyes. ‘Never mind. Why?’

‘He is different. It unnerves me.’

‘Why?’

‘Do you really think Lucifer would not do something just like this?’

‘Cas, Luci wasn’t in Sam when I saved him.’

‘That’s not what I mean,’ Castiel said urgently. ‘What if he left some kind of trap, for further prolonged trauma? Did you find anything inside him?’

Gabriel shot him a lewd glance. ‘That boy’s insides are clean, Cas.’

‘Sam, you're cold.’ Dean’s concerned voice rang out around the room, and the two angels surged forwards instantly.

Gabe placed his arms on Sam's, and yes, he was definitely colder than he had been.

‘What’s happening?’ Dean asked, confrontational as he turned on Gabriel.

‘I don’t know.’

‘What do you mean, you don’t know?’

‘He was fine, I healed him,’ Gabriel explained. He and Cas shared a look. Then he turned to Sam. ‘Cas thinks maybe Lucifer did something to you that I can't fix.’

‘Like what?’ asked the younger Winchester. ‘Gabe, I feel numb.’

‘Like that,’ Castiel replied.

‘Damnit,’ the archangel muttered.

‘What’s going on?’ Dean called out. ‘Cas? What’s happening?’

‘Your brother’s freezing over because my brother’s a dickbag,’ Gabriel explained as he moved to pull off Sam's shirt. ‘You don’t mind, do you?’

Sam shook his head and Gabriel undid the buttons and slid off the plaid shirt. Then, he cautiously placed his hands on Sam's chest, above his heart.

‘Lucifer embedded a darkness within Sam, so deep that it’s impossible to get out. Like a huge, massively annoying splinter. But a lot worse. I got most of it, but there’s still some left over. And he still remembers, or he will eventually. He’ll be driven insane,’ he explained as he used more of his grace to control the ethereal emptiness within the Winchester’s fixed soul. ‘I fixed him up alright, but magic always leaves its traces.’

‘So what, Sam's gonna be stuck?’

‘Please, no,’ Sam replied. ‘Gabriel, don’t let it happen to me.’

Gabriel looked Sam in the eyes. ‘I won't, I promise.’ He turned to Dean. ‘I can save him, but the only way to do that is to take him to Heaven.’

‘What, you mean kill him?’

‘In a way, kinda,’ Gabriel admitted.

‘No,’ Dean said immediately. ‘No freakin’ way.’

Gabriel sighed and rolled his eyes. ‘You goddamn Winchesters. He’s as good as dead anyway if you don’t let me take him, you know.’

‘You healed him before, do it again.’

‘It’s not that easy.’

‘Oh, so we’re gonna kill him instead?’

‘If that’s what needs to happen, then yes,’ Sam piped in. ‘This is my soul, and my choice. Alright?’

‘Sammy, you can't just let it end like this.’

‘Dean come on, I’ve long outlived myself. I’d be dead anyway, had you not brought me back that first time I was stabbed. Please, just let me go.’

‘Sam, you’re my brother. I’d do anything for you.’

‘So do this,’ Sam insisted. ‘Gabriel will look after me. Please. I don’t want the alternative.’

‘Dean, you’ve got to get over your ridiculous co-dependency thing over Sam. He’s a grown up. You don’t need to be there for him forever anymore,’ Gabriel pushed.

‘But-’

‘No buts, damnit. Dean, get over him. Get with Cas. You two obviously have something going on, and don’t deny it you idiots. You’re clearly in love.’

‘Gabriel,’ Cas said. ‘If you are going, it must be now.’

‘So you're okay with this?’ Dean asked.

‘It will save Sam's life, so yes,’ Castiel said simply.

‘He’ll be dead.’

‘Not exactly. His soul shall be in a higher place. He shall still be living, just not how you define it.’

‘Dean, please,’ Sam said. ‘I’m so cold and the memories are hurting me.’

‘Bobby, what do you think?’ Dean asked, noticing that the older hunter had been silent for most of the exchange.

‘I think Sam should do whatever’s best for him,’ Bobby replied. ‘The world’ll have lost a damn good hunter if he goes, but it does sound better than whatever else would happen if he stayed.’

Dean looked at his brother long and hard. Eventually, he sighed and relented. ‘I’m going to regret this. Gabriel, if something bad happens to him-’

‘I won't let it,’ Gabriel insisted.

‘No but if something does, I have no objections to icing you. Got it?’

‘Yup. Now say your goodbyes; we have to go before Sam freezes completely.’

Dean cursed under his breath.


	12. Departure

The goodbyes are brief yet emotional, as expected. Dean pulls his brother into an all-consuming man hug, holding onto Sam before he eventually lets go to look up at Sam through red-rimmed, watering eyes. He stills grips onto Sam's arm tightly, unwilling to let go.

‘Bye Sammy,’ he says. ‘I’ll miss you.’

‘You too, Dean,’ Sam replies. His eyes are watering as well as he pulls his big brother in for one final hug.

Castiel and Gabriel stand at the side, watching the exchange. Gabriel turns to look at his own brother, who’s smiling at Dean.

‘You love him, don’t you?’ Gabriel asks.

Castiel turns to look at him. ‘What do you mean?’

Gabriel rolls his eyes. ‘Dean. It’s obvious. You two love each other.’

Castiel turns to look at Dean again. Gabriel looks at Sam.

‘You love Sam.’

‘Yeah,’ Gabriel admits.

‘Does he know?’

‘I’m not sure.’

‘You should tell him.’

‘You tell yours, I’ll tell mine.’

‘Alright,’ Castiel says.

Gabriel turns to look at him. ‘You will?’

‘Yes,’ Castiel nods.

‘Finally.’ He turns to Sam. ‘We’ve got to go before the darkness gets out of control.’

Sam turns and nods at him before letting go of his brother and turning to Bobby so he can say goodbye. Bobby hugs him too, and all of them are openly crying by the time Sam walks over to Gabriel.

‘Let’s go,’ he says. ‘It won't hurt, will it?’

‘Just like falling asleep,’ Gabriel promises. He turns to Dean. ‘You look after my little brother, you hear?’

‘You look after mine,’ Dean says back.

‘I will, I promise.’ Gabe turns to his brother. ‘Cas, remember what we said. And I’ll be watching, so I’ll know if you go back on it.’

‘I will,’ Castiel says. He looks at Dean for a second before looking back at Gabriel. ‘You should go now.’

‘Bye guys,’ Sam and Gabriel both say as they wave at their family. Everyone waves back, and then Gabriel places his hand on Sam's forehead, escorting him to Heaven.

* * *

Upon arrival at the Pearly Gates, Sam turns immediately to Gabriel.

‘Can I see her?’

‘Jess or your mom?’ Gabriel asks, unsure.

‘Both of them, actually.’

‘They’re both in their own personal heavens, but I suppose one little visit won't hurt.’ Gabriel pulls Sam along with him, and suddenly they’re standing in Jess’ Heaven. It’s light and airy, and a blonde woman sits reading on the grass outside a small house.

‘You not going to talk to her?’ Gabriel asks. Sam hasn’t moved from his place, and he stands watching Jess with a small smile.

‘No, I just wanted to make sure she was okay,’ Sam explains. ‘Can we go to my mom’s Heaven now?’

‘Yeah, sure.’ Gabriel takes his hand again and then they move from Jess’ Heaven to Mary’s.

This time, Sam walks forward until his mother spots him, and she beams radiantly at him as she walks over for a hug.

‘Hey mom,’ Sam whispers.

‘Hey Sam,’ Mary smiles back. ‘You’ve been so brave.’

‘You saw what happened?’

‘I was watching over you.’ She pulls back, looking up at her son’s face, the one she never got to see age in person. Then she looks at Gabriel. ‘Thank you for looking after him.’

‘It was an honour, ma’am,’ Gabriel replies.

Mary smiles at him and Sam rolls his eyes. Gabriel just grins back.

‘You’ve got to be going,’ Mary says.

Gabriel nods.

‘It was good to see you, Sam,’ she says, turning back to her son.

‘It was great to see you too, mom,’ Sam sighs happily.

‘Come and visit sometime,’ she suggests. ‘I’m sure your angel friend won't mind bending the reality a little to help you.’

‘Of course not,’ Gabriel offers. ‘Anytime.’

Sam says goodbye to his mom and then returns to Gabriel, who escorts him to his own heaven.

* * *

Sam takes a moment to explore his own little section of Heaven, which is stuffed full of books – every one ever printed, Gabriel tells him. Gabriel leaves him to it, instead looking down on his little brother and the remaining Winchester. He sits on one of the plush couches littering Sam's half-library-half-house Heaven, watching as his brother tried to corner Dean into a conversation about emotions.

Castiel finally lets the ‘L’ word slip, and Dean stops to stare at him. Gabriel rolls his eyes at the obliviousness he’s displaying.

Sam rolls up beside Gabriel just as Castiel grabs the front of Dean’s jacket and pulls him in for a searing kiss. He recoils from the image on the screen.

‘Guess they finally figured it out, huh?’ he asks.

‘Yeah,’ Gabriel agrees.

‘Finally.’

‘I know right. It was obvious from the off.’

Sam turns to study Gabriel's profile. ‘You’re not dead, and now the whole of Heaven knows. What are you gonna do?’

‘I’m an archangel,’ Gabriel points out. ‘I can do whatever the hell I want.’

‘Will you stay here with me?’ the question is nonchalant, but Gabriel can tell that to Sam, the answer will mean a lot.

‘Do you want me to?’

Sam scoffs as if the answer to the question is ridiculously obvious. And it is. Gabriel wants to hear him say it though. Sam shifts on the sofa so he’s sat facing Gabriel, and places his hands either side of the angel’s face. ‘I would love for you to stay with me.’

Gabriel pushes forward so their lips are pressed together, like when Sam had first woken up after Hell. When he pulls back, Sam's eyes are closed, and there’s a content smile on his face.

‘I’m sorry about the way I treated your brother,’ Gabriel blurts, ‘I just wanted to show you how bad it could get but it was wrong-’

‘It’s fine,’ Sam assures him. ‘You made up for it by saving me, and coming back when I thought you were gone.’

‘Of course I came back,’ the archangel replies. ‘I love you. I probably have done since the moment I first laid eyes on you, I just hadn’t noticed until I remembered you kissing me.’

‘True loves kiss can break any curse,’ smiles the Winchester. ‘And I think… no, I know that I love you too.’

They kiss again, and Gabriel knows what he’s doing.

‘I’ll stay with you,’ he whispers. ‘I promise.’

Sam just smiles and kisses him again. He’s truly happy for once, Gabriel can tell. He smiles and Sam smiles too, and the two of them spend the rest of eternity together, happy. The purity of Heaven works against the darkness that had been left behind in Sam's soul, and eventually obliterates it, leaving Sam purer than he had ever been before. They visit Mary in her Heaven sometimes, and she gives them both her approval and blessing. It’s the happiest Gabriel's been in what seems like forever, and he’s not going to give it up anytime soon.


End file.
